A Mighty Fine Predicament
by ForTheWretched
Summary: Takes place in the aftermath of the Opera. Nathan didn't die, however is badly maimed and now relying on Shilo to act the nurse. When Shi gets an uninvited house guest, now harboring a dark secret, will all hell break loose? Slight Grilo.
1. Breakfast

Dammit! " Shilo exclaimed, pulling her hand back from the skillet. She cursed herself for being so absent minded and gripping the handle too high up. She held her breath and raised her eyes, listening for any sounds from upstairs. Nothing. Shilo exhaled, relieved that she hadn't woken her father from the first truly deep sleep he had had in so long. She stuck her burnt finger into her mouth, an impeccably childish response, and grappled in the cabinet for a band-aid. She wrapped it around the blister already forming there and turned her attention to the mangled mess in the skillet. It was french toast..was being the operative word. Now it didn't even resemble bread, just a brownish glob darkening by the minute. Making a mental note to teach herself how to cook, Shilo slid the toast onto a plate and dumped it onto the table, sliding into a chair herself. Ignoring the taste of burnt plastic, she devoured the toast, desperate to eat anything. So preoccupied had she been with playing the nurse to her now invalid father Shilo hadn't had a moment to sit down in the last three days, let alone fix herself food.

It had been two weeks since that dreadful night, Shilo had been at her fathers' side ever since. She had fed him, cleaned his wounds and calmed him when he awoke; his skin on fire from dangerously high fevers, delusional and calling fro Marni. The last three days had been exceptionally trying, Nathan had grown so tormented by invisible monsters that the stitches in his leg had torn. Shilo had already depleted the stores of prescription Zydrate in her father's lab...and last night had been so desperate; her father weeping like a child from the pain, his skin red and inflamed...Shilo's will gave out and she reached for the only thing she had left, three vials of illegal Zydrate, Graverobber's idea of a consolation prize. Within minutes Nathan's fever was breaking, his breathing growing deep and even, giving into sleep. Unable to ignore the hunger pains rumbling in her stomach any longer, Shilo crept downstairs. The french toast hadn't been some form of Epicurean choice, it had been the only choice, only bread, two eggs and half a jug of almost soured milk were left in the refrigerator.

A sharp prick of pain brought her back to the present and Shilo realized she'd been holding her injured fingers to tightly iin the other hand. The room began to swim before her eyes, and unable to resist any longer, Shilo lowered her head into the cradle she had made with her arms on the table and let her mind wander and her eyes close. Enjoying the silence....

"Wow, Kid. What did you do in here, cook a cat?"

Shilo whipped her head up, fell backwards out of the chair, and found herself staring in a familiar ghostly white face.


	2. Friends?

Shilo gasped, her heart pounding in her throat from the shock, stars swimming before her eyes from the collision with the hardwood floor. "What did..how did you..don't DO that!!" she sputtered, scrambling to her feet. Graverobber leaned against the entry way to the kitchen, an amused smirk still plastered across his painted face. " Door was open" he explained, shockingly cavalier, striding over to the table and sliding into the chair across from Shilo. " ...No. No it wasn't" she said, standing the chair upright again but standing behind it, guarded. "I locked it this morning. I know I did." Graverobbers smirked dipped and his eyes flicked away..guiltily? " Well it opened for me.." he said, his smirk coming back full force and the end of the sentence getting lost in a laugh that escaped his lips. " You picked my lock?!" Shilo exclaimed indignantly. Her surprise and trepidation at this man's sudden appearance was turning now to anger. "Why would you break into my house?"

"Hey, hey Kid. Can't a guy drop in on a friend? He said, still lounging lazily in the chair.

"Not if you break into her house! ...and I don't know if friendship is what you would call this...this." Shilosaid, gesturing to the space between them. "You're sure there was no ulterior motive? Sure you don't need a place to hide from the Genecops?"

Graverobber's face fells into a mockery of an injured look and he leaned forward, elbows resting on the table. " Aw, you hurt my pride. Why would you assume I'm running?"

"Because you're a criminal." Shilo stated. Graverobber's eyebrows raised. " I could say the same for you kid."

Shilo could feel her face growing redder. "What do you mean?"

"You don't know?", he asked, "What? Have you been living under a..." He looked around at the desolate, empty house. "Well, guess so. You're a wanted girl. Technically Genecobelongs to you. That fuckin' Amber has claimed it, but if you were to show up..well lets just say the little peasant would get the keys to the castle."

Shilo's heart twisted in response to his words...he was right. "Amber can have Geneco. I don't want it. I son't want anything to do with it."

"You so sure about that?" Shilo felt his icy eyes on her but left his question unanswered. " If I'm so wanted, why haven't they come to get me? Amber knows where I am. Why aren' t I dead?"

Graverobber let out a small laugh. " Kid, that slut has more important people, oh sorry, _things _to do than chase after you. As long as you lie low, you're fine."

Shilo swallowed the fear and bile rising in her throat. Graverobber didn't press on. " So..." he continued, "How's psychodaddy doing?"

Blood flooded to Shilo' s face and her rising anger exploded. "Don't you dare call him that!" , she cried, her hands gripping the chair before her. "You don't know him! You don't know anything about him!" . Graverobber's lazy posture didn't change, although the condescending smirk faded from his face and his eyes widened the slightest bit.

"Jesus, calm down kid. Just kidding" Shilo tried to slow her breathing, loosening her death grip on the chair and for the first time raising her eyes to meet his.

" He's..he's fine. Now. The wounds aren't healing like their supposed to. I got the bullet out when we got him home but..he's in a lot of pain, all the time. Fever's come and go and he gets...delusions." She could feel a lump in her throat, recalling her father, twisting in the sheets, fighting against himself. No. Shilo would not let herself cry. Not in front of him. She took a deep breath and continued.

" Last night...I..um. I used up all the legal stuff he had in his lab. He was in so much pain, I had to...give him the stuff you left." Graverobber's face was stony, set in an indifferent expression. A lengthy silence spread between them. His dark eyes drifted from Shilo back to the entry way from whence he came. " Well, looks like I picked the perfect time to crash at your place."

"Crash at my place?!" The anger was beginning to rise again. " No No NO. You will not stay here. You're leaving." Shilo crossed the kitchen and pointed out the entryway. "Leave." She demanded. Graverobber leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms over his chest and stretching out his legs.

" And if I don't?" He challenged.

"I'll...make you...leave." The words sounded absurd before they even left her mouth. As if she; small, weak, still recovering Shilo Wallace could make this drug peddler do anything. Nevertheless, her arm pointed the way out, a demented road sign. Graverobber's eyebrows raises, and he fought the urge to laugh outright.

" And just how do you plan on doing that?" Shilo lowered her arm reluctantly. " Look at it this way. You obviously need some help with Psych- your dad. And I need a place to hide out for a while. It's a win-win situation."

"We don't need any help. We're fine" She responded defiantly. She was being absurd, she knew that, there was no food in the house, no medicine or bandages left for her father, she herself hadn't slept in three days...she need help, lots of it. Just not from him. She didn't want to be anywhere near him, see his know-it-all smirk or hear his gruff voice. She wanted him gone, everything about him made her uneasy. He scoffed, breaking Shilo out of her reverie.

" Don't need help? Kid. You taken a good look at yourself lately? Here." He said, producing a compact inexplicably from his coat. Shilo crossed the space between them and snatched it from his hand. She opened it, suddenly afraid of what she might see reflected there. The mirror was cracked, a chip missing from the left corner, but all the same it yielded results. She gasped when she saw the girl in the mirror, looking as if death had already claimed her. Her eyes were bloodshot, deep purple shadows surrounding them. . her skin was chalky and pallid, all the life drained from it. A fine buzz of black hair sprouted from her scalp, giving her the look of some kind of giant newborn. It was disgusting. Shilo clamped the compact shut and shoved it back towards Graverobber. He looked up at her expectantly.

" I...alright." She said reluctantly. "On one condition. You tell my why you are running."

The smirk stayed strong this time. " All in due time, tiny."

Shilo opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off by the loud mechanical beep of her watch"**Medicine Reminder. Medicine Reminder." **It chirped. She clamped a hand over it toshut itoff. She paused momentarily, suddenly struck by the cruel irony of the situation. Not even a month ago the same alarm would have sent her scurrying upstairs to the box of medicine her father would have left for her...

Her father, the very reason they were both so both weak and vulnerable now, the reason her seventeen years had been spent locked away in bedroom, being slowly poisoned. And now she was the one ministering to him...Shilo pushed the dark thoughts away with a shake of her head. " I've gotta go check on my dad. You just –you stay here."

"Won't move a muscle" Shilo turned from the kitchen and trekked up the stairs. She paused before her father' s door, pressing her ear against the wood to listen to any movement from within. Silence. She gingerly opened the door. " Daddy? Are you awake?"


	3. Daddy Dearest or The Reveal

"Daddy?" No answer. Shilo tip-toed over to the bed. Nathan lay back against the pillows, the blankets tucked up under his chin. Shilo put a hand on his brow. Slight fever, she noted. How many hours had it been since the his last dose of Zydrate? Six? Shilo glanced at the last two viles resting on the nightstand. He could survive without it right? She could find something else, there had to be something else, or he could just fight through the pain...shilo grappled for an answer, anything else but ask the criminal downstairs for a favor. She sighed and loaded the gun. She loathed doing this, injecting her father with this vile, addictive substance. It felt wrong, cruel. But... hadn't he done the same thing to her...? No Shilo. She chastised herself. Don't think like that. You have to be the strong one now, you have to be the adult. Shilo positioned the gun against the bruised and punctured crook of Nathan's elbow. She clamped her eyes shut and pulled the trigger. Her father gave a small shudder, his eyes flicked open. "Shilo?" He whispered, his voice barely audible. " Where's..Shilo..?" His eyes couldn't find her, they looked right through her towards something only he could see.

"It's ok, Daddy. I'm here." She said, brushing a few strand of unkempt hair off his forehead. Shilo took his large calloused hand in her small soft one, her thumb rubbing small circles against his palm. After a few moments his eyes began to close again, yet his mouth still struggled to form words.

" What is it Dad? What do you need?" Shilo leaned closer to hear.

"Tell..tell her that I'm so, so sorry. Tell them both." Nathan whispered, and his daugther noticed the tear sliding down his cheek. The emotion swelled up in her again, she swallowed it again. " It's me, Daddy. It's Shilo." She whispered, too late for him to hear, he'd already slipped off into oblivion.

"I forgive you. I do." The words tasted sour on her tounge. Sounded false, forced. She wanted to mean them, desperately wanted to mean them. Desperately wanted to look at her father and not feel a ripping sensation from her stomach to her chest. Wanted to look up at him with admiration and love, knowing that he'd always be there to save her...but the ripping ate at her, viciously reminding her that things would never be the same. Shilo wanted to cry, to kick and scream, to beat Nathan with her fists...and at the same time wanted him to hold her and tell her stories as if she were five again.

Shilo tore herself out of the morbid trance, tucking her father's blankets tighter around him and rising from the bed. She stood for a moment, suddenly stuck with an overwhelming urge to shower. Her disturbing reflection still fresh in her mind, she said a silent prayer that Graverobber wouldn't tear the house down and trekked down the hallway to her room.

The bedroom contained an unfamiliar musty smell, one of a room abandoned. She hadn't been in the rooom in the past two weeks except to shower and occasionaly change clothes . Her bed she had left in exchange for an armchair in her father's room, keeping an everwatchful eye on him during the night.

The room looked the same as before, as if nothing had happened. Posters on the walls, the piano strewn with long memorized sheet music, medical equipment on the bed side table. Yet...there was an unmistakeably air of something lost, as if this was the room of a deceased girl. Shilo grabbed a pair of old black jeans and a button down shirt and headed to the bathroom, desperate to get out of this room as soon as possible.

Ten minutes later she emerged, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, and looking slightly better (she thought). Shilo padded back down the stairs, stopping on the landing. Graverobber stood before the fireplace, gazing at the portrait of Marni with a fixed concentration. " God. This place is like a mausoleum." He said, breaking his stare and turning his attention to Shilo.

" You should feel right at home then."

The smirk again. " Indeed I do." He said, dropping ungracefully onto the couch. He patted the space next to him. Shilo hesitated. " Oh come on kid. I won't bite. Today" She slowly made her way over to him and sat down. Awkward silence. Shilo wondered briefley if this was how people outside really communicated, through a series of awkward silences. ..

" So. Are you going to tell me...um why you're hiding here?" She asked cautiously.

" Well you are really stubborn huh? Well If you must know..." He trailed off dramatically. He inched closer to her, causing Shilo to back up to the edged of the couch. He inched closer still...Shilo could smell him, a scent of dirt and cigarette smoke...his face was centimeters away from hers...Shilo's heart was pounding in her throat. His eyes locked into hers.." One of my..uh, customers..isn't in the best condition now. Let's say she's a little..cold to the touch. And someone decided that I had something to do with her untimely end".

" She's dead?" Shilo insides felt as if and icy hand had gripped her stomach. " You're wanted for murder?"

" Ironic isn't it?" He said, still obscenely close to her. " Geneco can kill all the poor fuckers it wants to, but sell the right dose to one of Amber fuckin' Sweet's little friends at the wrong time and..."

"Amber? What does she have to do with this? Why-" Shilo was cut off by one grubby finger pressed to her lips.

"We'll have lots of time to go over the finer details, kid." In one swift motion Graverobber was off the couch and standing before her. "In the meantime, I'm going to get groceries."

"But..you just said you needed to hide. How are you going to get groceries?!"

"Have a little more faith in me than that. I have my ways.." Shilo didn't bother to argue anymore. Graverobber shrugged and was out the door in a blink of an eye. Shilo sighed deeply, laid her head back against the cushions and let herself collapse into much, much needed sleep.


End file.
